According to the U.S. Department of Education, Fairfield is ranked 28 in the nation for reported alcohol violations of colleges and universities. Even more prestigious, Fairfield is number one in Connecticut. These numbers are dubious, especially considering that state schools with upwards of 25,000 students, such as the University of Connecticut, are reporting a meager 136 violations compared to our 651.

Of course, what the University of Connecticut means by violations is significantly different from how Fairfield defines them. For UConn, a reported alcohol violation means only that you’ve been arrested by the state police. Fairfield includes all referrals to judicial. Such a huge discrepancy in how universities report violations leads us to question the usefulness of the report. Until all universities adopt a uniform method of reporting violations, they will always be deceptive.

The Department of Education stipulated that the study was based on reported violations instead of actual violations. There is no way to quantify the amount of actual violations that take place on any campus. Unfortunately, Fairfield has decided to be more explicit in defining alcoholic violations.

It is good that Fairfield University is so honest when it comes to drinking on campus. The numbers reported for Fairfield are probably more representative of the nation-wide state of drinking on campus than most others. It’s better not to tiptoe around the issue since drinking in college can be so potentially dangerous.

However, studies like this give Fairfield the reputation of being a party school. The claims are probably true to a certain extent, but perhaps overdrawn. Even so, it is misleading when prospective students hear that Fairfield is number one for alcohol violations in the state. They’ll only see the ranking in the Princeton Review, not the analysis that would fully explain the situation.

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